Aorta

Emir Å ehanoviÄ‡ loves visual art. Though he spends more time creating than observing, he is, undoubtedly, dedicated to appreciating art whether it is created by the stroke of his own brush or anotherâ€™s. Soon, after discovering his artistic niche Emir adopted the alias of AORTA. Yes, that thing in your body. The reasoning behind the name related to the AORTAâ€™s function. â€œThe AORTA is the largest artery in the human body bringing oxygenated blood to all parts of the body, in my case, bringing creativity to all parts of the world.â€ AORTA has no rigorous or fixed message behind his works, he intends solely for people to see his paintings and decide the meaning behind it themselves. â€œThere is no message. I do it just to make that place interesting for an eye.â€

Born in Southern Europe, AORTA is a product of Bosnia and Herzegovina. He originates from Tulza, a small city within the country. Contrary to traditional rules, Emir was free to express himself the way young children like to do if a notebook paper and Crayola crayons will not do the trick. â€œAs a child, I was very creative, all my toys where redesigned and all walls in the house where covered with my paintings. My parents allowed me to paint directly on the wall.â€

Mesmerized early on by an art filled environment, he discovered his niche straight away. â€œMy mom was working in the gallery, so I had a chance to spend I lot of time there. It was an amazing feeling to be there, surrounded with all those artworks. That was my world.â€

Tulza, he described is a very artsy city where people are free to show their artistic ability. â€œIt is tolerant and friendly. You can do whatever you want and say whatever you want without any problems.â€ AORTA takes full advantage of this fact and explores new ways to get the attention of any and everyone who will appreciate his art.

Sprawled across buildings, concrete staircases, wooden and metal poles, abandoned buildings and mural worthy walls are the works of AORTA who shows no discrimination when it comes down to finding a place to display his work. Surprisingly, displaying art on an uncommon surface isnâ€™t the trick to attracting onlookers. â€œI just try to incorporate architecture in my work. I want that object I am painting on to be part of the artwork, not just the surface I am painting on.â€ Unfamiliar renditions of familiar objects and faces are what AORTA regularly creates on these bizarre surfaces.

By looking at a sculpture or painting, the surface isnâ€™t the only thing that is different about AORTAâ€™s style. The mystery of not knowing what AORTAâ€™s art is all about has attracted the attention of many observers. He is focused on receiving positive feedback, but explains that he receives commentary from both worlds, â€œYes, I get it a lot. Some of them are good, some of them not good.â€ Either way it goes, he will continue to push his ideas forward to encourage those who do like to be perplexed on occasion.

No expensive or formal training is the source of AORTAâ€™s creativity. He relies on his instinct, environment and past experience to substitute as his educator. Brazilian twin brothers and graffiti writer OS GEMEOS are major inspirations to AORTA as well. Aside from other artists, AORTA draws inspiration directly from his environment. â€œIt comes from all around me, sometimes in music.â€

Soon, after finishing primary school, AORTA transitioned into graffiti. Istanbul, a popular country in Turkey served as his home for the following four years and there he spent a lot of time at skate parks practicing one of his many hobbies. AORTA was often surrounded by graffiti and took it upon himself to explore a new form. Graffiti is what he says pushed him to do more, â€œI continued doing art and I got into it much deeper.â€ Sculptures and paintings resulted from his spray can experiments in which after he decided to return home. At one point AORTAâ€™s country was torn by war. â€œIt had an effect on me, so naturally it had an effect on my art too.â€ Fortunately, after three years, the Bosnian War ended in 1995 and AORTA moved on and continued to share his work with Tulza and the surrounding cities.

In order to keep himself occupied and included in the world of art AORTA incorporates himself and his ideas in art based organizations and works with other artists on various projects, one of which is called The Manufaktura. â€œWe are a group of artist who work together and try to effect upcoming generations in Bosnia in artistic ways, and to motivate them in creativity. They know my work and they support me, but there is no influence on my work.â€

Today, AORTA continues to spend much of his time painting unexpected and works of art on any surface serve as a noticeable canvas. He is not only a graffiti writer and painter, but a photographer as well. He describes himself as a guy who tries to enjoy every second of his life.

Hey Everyone!As my name displays I'm Makula Dunbar. I am a person who loves music, fashion, Hip-Hop culture and everything in between. I love to write, and I am very happy to be contributing to the Format movement.